She frowns. "But, nobody wants Tongan houses anymore, because something Western, something modern, people think is better. People associated Tongan style of homes with poverty.
"Just like with our food."
The traditional Tongan diet is fish, root vegetables and coconuts, as you might expect for a palm-fringed island in the middle of the Pacific.

Same same for us, our want for things European is the beginning of our demise.

"Good food, in a Tongan sense, is lots of food," says Rev. Dr. Ma'afu Palu, a minister who is making it his mission to preach healthier eating.
He's among many who criticize church leaders for failing to set a good example to their parishioners. Ministers are authority figures in this deeply religious society and according to Palu, 85 percent of them are obese, thanks partly to the regular feasts they take part in.
The obesity epidemic is not solely due to mutton flaps and turkey tails. Lots of fatty canned meat is consumed — sometimes from giant 96-ounce tins.